Hamlet feuds over federally funded phones

Shannon Dininny of The Associated Press took the Lake Chelan ferry (dotted line on MapQuest image) to Stehekin, Wash. (we presume AP didn't spring for a float plane) to do a story that began: "This remote outpost in the rugged Cascades is so cut off from the outside world that it has no roads leading to town and little telephone service. The 80-or-so locals relish the isolation and pristine beauty and sell it as an escape to tourists. So when a telephone company attempted to install basic service for a handful of people who sought it, many longtime residents blasted the idea. Siblings found themselves on opposite sides of the heated dispute. Neighbors shouted obscenities across the ferry landing. About 20 telephone lines were eventually installed at a cost of $13,000 per line a year — all paid for by the federal government," with money from a surcharge on long-distance calls. The Universal Service Fund is "a huge leak of ratepayer dollars, and someone has figured out how to put a funnel under that leak. They're just opportunists," tourist-ranch operator Cliff Courtney told Dininny. (Read more) UPDATE, July 12: The phone company, Weavetel, collected more money per line from the USF, $17,763, than any other in 2009, Nate Anderson of Ars Technica reports.